When a crime on a beautiful Italian island stumps the police, locals
turn to the trusted elderly widow Nonna Maria in this transporting
mystery from #1 New York Times bestselling author Lorenzo Carcaterra,
"one of the all-time greats" (Jeffery Deaver).
"An utterly delightful tale starring one of the most charming amateur
sleuths ever created."--Tess Gerritsen, New York Times bestselling
author of Listen to Me
Nonna Maria has lived on Ischia, an island in the Gulf of Naples, her
entire life. Recognizable by the widow's black she's worn every day for
decades, she always has pasta on the stove and espresso in the pot for
the neighbors who stop by to ask her advice on life and love. Everyone
knows her, and she knows everyone's business. So if something goes
wrong, islanders look to her, not the local carabinieri, to find the
solution.
When a recently engaged woman confesses that she's afraid her fiancé, a
stranger to Ischia with a murky past, might not be who he seems, Nonna
Maria helps her disappear so she can investigate the true nature of her
betrothed. The stranger has also raised the suspicions of Captain Murino
of the carabinieri, but he's occupied investigating the death of a tour
boat captain who drowned in the wee hours of the morning. Captain Murino
believes it was an accident, but Nonna Maria knows the man was a born
sailor and too good a swimmer to drown, no matter how much wine he might
have drunk. While Captain Murino has his hands full, she pours herself a
glass of white wine and gets to work, even though getting involved will
expose her to the dangers lurking just beneath the surface of her
idyllic home.
